Iowa AD Bob Bowlsby (great name for an AD, by the way) was at the tournament and told the 2004 All-Big 10 QB that, since he has a year of eligibility left, accepting the prize would be against NCAA rules.

Surrounded, the difference is that a guy who plays baseball and makes money is doing so because he has talent at baseball - it has nothing to do with him being the star QB.Tate was playing in this tournament solely because he's a celebrity, because he's Iowa's QB. So any money he makes from it would be due to his football. It's not as if he just entered some contest that any guy off the street could have entered. Tate understood, when he said in the article's last paragraph "if it weren't for football and the university, I wouldn't be playing in this outing anyway."

If he would have been allowed to keep the prize, the next step would be the Greater Columbus Put-Put tournament where local celebrities would have a chance to win a new Escalade for sinking a 6 inch put.

A clarification on the 25K. Tournaments such as this take out an insurance policy to protect themselves against paying out. (If I had gone to UM I probably wouldn't have ended that last sentence in a preposition)

For a small amount, usually about $200, they can get an insurance policy . And (damn! showing my non-UM education again) since it was 25K towards a new car, they probably had a deal with a dealership or car company to knock even more off the 25K.

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